1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fishing reel comprising a spool, a drag mechanism, a transmission means for transmitting rotation of the spool to the drag mechanism, and a one-way transmission mechanism mounted on the transmission means for transmitting drive to the drag mechanism only when the spool rotates in a finishing line unwinding direction.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
An example of the fishing reels structured as above is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application "Kokai" No. 63-119363, which includes a transmission gear mounted on a rotary shaft of the spool, an intermediate gear constantly meshing with the transmission gear and mounted on an arm oscillatable about an axis of the rotary shaft, and a drag mechanism for meshing the intermediate gear with an input gear when the arm is oscillated to a predetermined position. The one-way transmission mechanism is structured such that only when the spool rotates in the fishing line unwinding direction with a meshing resistance between the transmission gear and the intermediate gear and a rotational resistance of the intermediate gear being increased, the arm is oscillated to the predetermined position under the above-mentioned resistances whereby the drag mechanism exerts a braking force upon the spool.
With this conventional reel, when the spool rotates in the finishing line unwinding direction, the one-way transmission mechanism is operated, as a result of which the braking force is constantly exerted upon the spool. Therefore, if the fishing line is unwound under the self-weight of "a weight", a further operation is required for reducing the braking force of the drag mechanism. Additionally, the braking force of the drag mechanism should be adjusted after the fishing line is unwound under the reduced braking force. This results in not only a troublesome adjusting operation but also the difficulty for a quick unwinding operation of the fishing line.
Furthermore, in order to ensure oscillation of the arm in the conventional reel, it is also required to increase the meshing resistance between the transmission gear and the intermediate gear or the rotational resistance of the intermediate gear. However, these resistances are inherently exerted when the spool rotates in a fishing line winding direction as well. Thus, if these resistances are set to large values, an operational torque for winding up the fishing line becomes disadvantageously large.